This first of its kind Gordon Research Conference will bring together scientists from around the world who are working to relate ecological processes to fundamental laws of biology, chemistry and physics.

Specifically, we will focus on fundamental constraints imposed by body size, temperature and stoichiometry (i.e., elemental composition). Recent integrative studies on the effects of body size, temperature, and stoichiometry have led us to conclude that these three factors are the primary determinants of rate processes in organisms, including the most fundamental biological process, metabolism. Since metabolic rate is the rate of transformation of energy and materials in an organism, many other biological rates are governed by metabolism. From the perspective of ecology, metabolism determines the rate of exchange of energy and materials with the environment, and the rate of allocation of these resources to all components of the life history: maintenance, growth and reproduction. The next important step is to quantify how the effects of body size, temperature and stoichiometry on metabolism constrain species' life histories, population dynamics, and their distribution and diversity. This, in turn, will help to better understand ecosystem level processes such as nutrient cycling and trophic dynamics. The next step here is to develop mechanistic explanations for these broader scale ecosystem and global patterns. From this perspective, it is now clear that much of ecology reflects the outcome of the same biological and physical processes.

We will bring together a trans-disciplinary group of distinguished ecologists, physiologists, physical scientists and mathematicians to guarantee diverse perspectives. This will insure a dynamic exploration of this new frontier in biology, with a special emphasis on discussing future areas of research and collaboration. We will explore how basic principles constrain or optimize biological processes at all levels of biological organization, from individuals and populations to communities and ecosystems. Topics likely to be covered include: life history constraints, population dynamics, community structure and function, nutrient cycling, stoichiometry, and allometry.